Welcome to our weekly roundup of CBD and hemp-related legal and regulatory news:

CBD

Charlotte's Web wants CBD products label class paused pending legislation

Charlotte's Web told a federal judge that Rasunae Moqeet's proposed class action over the company's product labels should remain on pause following the introduction of a bill that, if passed, would provide federal guidance for selling CBD. The suit was initially paused in Apr., as the FDA "completes its rulemaking [concerning CBD] and/or Congress passes legislation regarding the definitions, marketing and labeling of CBD products." The case is administratively closed while those matters are pending. However, the class action attorney claims there's every indication the FDA won't make these products legal and, if it did, there would still be requirements for "warnings, dosage, disclosures regarding usage with other products and side effects, none of which are on the current labels of the Charlotte's Web products." Law 360 (sub. req.)

Hemp

Texas wants to enforce smokable hemp ban, asks court to dismiss TI

The Texas Department of State Health Services asked the intermediate appellate court to reverse a Sept. temporary injunction issued by Travis County District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum, which the agency argues was an abuse of discretion that provided Crown Distributing and three other hemp businesses more from the courts than they requested. The Texas AG argued "there's more to manufacturing than what you [the court] think it does." However, because the state failed to challenge each possible basis for the prior ruling, the companies' attorney, Shane Pennington, said the appeal should fail and the temporary injunction should be affirmed. Law 360 (sub. req.)

Hemp Inc., executives to pay $10M SEC penalty

Industrial hemp company Hemp Inc. and its two leaders will pay $10 million in penalties to resolve SEC claims they used a network of shell companies to improperly sell unregistered securities, according to settlement documents. Consent filings show that Hemp Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin will pay a $1.7-million civil penalty, his co-principal Barry Keith Epling will pay $8 million and Hemp Inc. will pay a $300,000 civil penalty to the SEC. The shell companies, Ferris Holding and Hobbes Equities, also entered into judgments with similar language, though they won't pay any money to the SEC in connection with the claims. The SEC launched the suit in June 2016, claiming Perlowin transferred hundreds of shares of Hemp Inc. to Epling and his brother Jed Perlowin, who was dismissed from the suit in 2017 after a judgment was entered against him.  Law 360 (sub. req.)

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